cafe
by 1163
Summary: Hellboy has a crush and is feeling unsure of himself, what's a half demon to do but steal an artefact. Hellboy/John M/M


Sorry it been so long, this post might be a one off for this story as I have a few others that need to be finished. I Hope you enjoy it.

\- - - enjoy - - -

Hellboy seethed at the mirror that stood before him, it was not the first time that his appearance had halted him from doing something he wanted; but recently he had been coming to terms with it. Red brushed a hand over his shaven horns, that confidence had lasted until he saw an agent flirt with one John T Myers, his personal baby sitter and all round boyscout who just had to blush at the comments. The agent was laying it on thick and fast with John who was nervously leaning away from the larger agent unsure of what to do. Hellboy hadn't stuck around to witness the outcome, storming back to his room and slamming the door shut only to glance at himself in the mirror which had led to his current state of anger and self-doubt.

Turning away from his own reflection Red though for the hundredth time 'If only I were human' and for the third time that day he considered sneaking into the vault that housed the dangerous magical relics. He knew that one of them allowed a person to shape shift so surely it could turn him human, if just temporarily.

He gave it some thought as he sat on his large bed surrounded by his feline Posey. Surely it would be the opportunity to get the proof he needed to see if John had any feelings for him or if not then for anyone else, he gritted his teeth at the thought; and if not... Well if not at least he would be able to get a little closer to Myers. Grinning with his tail wiping back and forth he made his way from the volt, he knew just the merman to see , Abe argued at first trying to make red see reason and for over an hour Red listened but he was eventually persuaded by the thought of reading through one of the large thick books that had caught his eye a few weeks back.

Abe shoulders visibly slumped as he gave in "Fine Red but on one condition"  
Hellboy grinned around his cigar stump in triumph "Name it"  
"We have to put the artefacts back before 5am."  
Hellboy gawped at Abe's request "That's not reasonable Blue, that's like half a day"  
"That's how long it will take for them to find the artefacts missing, and you know who will blow a fuse..." Abe directed his gaze as Hellboy.  
"Yea yeah ..." he shrugged with huff "Fine" he grumbled "So how do we get in?"  
"I have a pass" Abe shrugged  
"What?" His cigar hanging from his lips in disbelief.  
"I have a pass, they gave it to me so I could offer assistance when needed"  
Red grumbled low in his throat "oh I see you get the special treatment."  
Abe crossed his arms "you know It's not like that red. if you gave them the time of day you'd be down there not me"  
Hellboy rolled his eyes "Come on then we are wasting valuable time"

True to form Abe managed to get them in and out of the artefact room without being detected, there code systems for each of the artefacts were the same as the door to get in, Abe would need to flag that up as a security risk when he wouldn't be caught out.

Abe went straight back to the study taking full advantage of the large book stand and began delving into the large book that carried rare spells, hexes and runes. Red only stopped to glance at Abe and the large gold book noticing the guilty twinge he got when he read something particularly enlightening, Abe's fingers roaming over the pages as he read.

Red played with the small bracelet in his pocket, his fingers sliding over the cold smooth metal, tearing himself from the library he went straight to his room. Once he had closed the door firmly and locked it in place his hand delved into the large pocket inside his leather jacket, he pulled out the small trinket and rotated it in his hand, he admiring its silver tones and hammered surface making it seem old yet cared for. Hellboy held the item closer, it appeared too small at first to fit on his large wrist, but never the less he tried to place it on, watching intently; the metal of the bracelet seemed to glow and enlarge stretching around the red flesh until it fit snuggly on the wearer. Hellboy stared down at the trinket and frowned not seeing much difference, tapping it for good measure with his stone hand. The metal felt warm to the touch and then it glowed red as if the silver was seeping out while absorbing the red pigment simultaneously from his skin. Hellboy watched with fascination as his stone hand shrunk in size and the rock pieces seemed to sink into his arm revealing flesh in their place as if it were waiting patiently beneath. Hellboy made it over to the mirror in record time and gazed at what could have been, there stood Hellboy 6 foot and lightly tanned, his shoulder length black hair replacing the space of his horns, his trade mark facial hair still firmly in place.

Hellboy grinned admiring his two human hands, still muscular he noted, the weirdest thing for him were his green eyes flecked with his usual amber and his lack of a tail which would have been excitedly saying by his side. Hellboy checked the clock taking note of the time, 7 o'clock that meant he had only ten hours to get close to John and get the answers he needed.

After delivering Red his dinner at 5pm John would change out of his work uniform into comfy clothes and then proceed to pour over his choice of paper work or research, however today was John's day off and he knew John liked to sit in a small cafe opposite central park at roughly this time, how did he know? Well he would watch him, for John's safety of course. Hellboy managed to make it off the facility with only a few funny looks, most agents were dressed down in the evenings, however a trench coat was a bit much and did raise a few eyebrows. Hellboy made it out of one of the less secure doors and made his way into town, his paranoia and anxiety were through the roof as he walked past people on the street, along with a feeling of warmth as passer buys would smile at him or say good afternoon as they scurried past him. It was an over whelming feeling that Red found hard to describe but he pushed past his own self-doubts and carried on to where he knew the cafe was situated.

Walking up to the café Red spotted John a mile off, comfortably relaxed in a large plush chair reading a book and with what he presumed was hot chocolate, Johns current fix for the cold weather. Hellboy pushed open the door to the café hearing the bell above him ring and smelling the warmth of fresh coffee and baked goods, Hellboy genuinely smiled and walked up to the counter "One large black coffee"

The waitress smiled at him, battering her thick black eye lashes and set about making his coffee "that will be £3.50" she leant over the table towards him. Hellboy awkwardly smiled at her, he fished out some money from his pocket money that Manning's liked to call pocket money. Taking his cup of coffee from the waitress he turned checking out the cafe, enough of the tables were occupied for Hellboy's next move to work smoothly.

He walked over to John and coughed politely something out of character for Hellboy, John looked up at the man before him analysing him with his dark hair and pleasant facial features; John smiled slightly. "May I?" Hellboy gestured to the seat opposite Johns. "Please do" John gestured to the seat with his right hand. Hellboy sat gingerly as if the chair couldn't accommodate him and once comfy he sipped at his coffee, John watched him the entire time before a smile came to his lips; he tried to hide it but it came out as a smirk. John leaned back into his chair and continued to read his book, he could feel the newcomers gaze on him.  
Hellboy was completely stumped, he knew he could get this far but he stupendously sucked at conversations and now he didn't know what to say and was creepily staring at John.  
John looked up again "So what brought you here?" Red sipped his coffee trying not to panic as he thought of an answer, grasping at straws words tumbled out of his mouth. "You did"  
John raised an eyebrow, lowering his book; unsure of himself "I did?"

"Umm yes I saw you outside and wanted to meet you" Red said quickly and blushed cursing his lack of forward thinking and his new ability to blush. John smiled wide "That's very sweet" placing his book down on the table next to his hot chocolate "but I'm sure I have met you before" Hellboy's panic spiked.

"No, I think I'd remember meeting someone like you" Hellboy almost cheered at his smooth reply "I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date, maybe we could get to know each other"

John tried hard not to grin and steadied his features "Sorry but I'm afraid you're not the usual type I go for"  
"Oh... Well I..." Hellboy stuttered  
"I prefer my men with amber eyes" John smiled again and watched the dark-haired man frown in confusion but otherwise didn't react and so John tried a more obvious approach "preferably with a long tail, red and smoking hot"  
John smirked leaning back in his seat and taking a sip of his drink watching as the man before him blushed hard.

"I don't know what you mean." Hellboy continued grasping at straws.

sighing and placing his cup down John looked Hellboy dead in the eye "I like you the way you are Red, amber eyes, red skin, tail … the whole of you. You don't need that bracelet to prove anything" Hellboy ducked his head thinking it through before huffing and giving up the charade and then paused "Wait you like me as I am?...not like this?" Gesturing to himself Hellboy frowned utterly confused that the man before him preferred a red demon over this human appearance.  
"YES Red I like you" John blushed at how forward his reply was and tried to redirect the conversation "Besides how could you think I wouldn't recognise you?" John looked him over "Dressed as you are" Hellboy waved a hand dismissively at the last part.

"Like me as in like me or as in ... were good team mates and friends" Red tried not to stumble over his words, he wanted an honest clear answer. John blushed harder and finished the last of his hot chocolate "Remember that mission to Antarctica when I got hypothermia"

Red shuddered at the thought that they had been so close to losing John. "Yeah, I remember you didn't let go of me the entire time, you were that frozen" John grinned at him "Not just because of the warmth Red" Red tried to decipher what John meant.

"Come on" John placed his cup down onto the table and picked up his red scarf from besides the chair wrapping it firmly around his neck.  
"Where are we going?"  
"Back to base, we need to return that thing" John gestured towards Hellboy's arm where the bracelet resided.  
"Awhhh come on scout give a man a bit of freedom" Red grinned with his usual bravado. "Besides Abe and I agreed to return them just before 5"  
"Them?" John stopped what he was doing and quirked an eyebrow "Wait you got Abe to help you steal this?"  
"He wanted to borrow a book, I wanted to borrow this. We're returning them so no harm done" Hellboy stood shrugging.  
"No harm done, they have cctv Red"  
"Yeah and I know all the blind spots" red winked.  
John smiled despite himself "come on you might as well enjoy this to the full"  
"Wait what?" Red frowned in obvious disbelief at the sudden shift in mood.  
"There's an ice skating rink around the corner, everyone needs to experience it once" John buttoned up his black cotton coat.  
Red grinned "You asking me on a date scout?"  
John blushed quickly collecting himself "Well you kind of asked before and I didn't really say no"  
"Well scout let's get moving were wasting precious time" Hellboy grinned and seemed to half bounce and half stride out the cafe, that was the Hellboy he knew.

"Red wait up" John tried to catch up.

Sure, enough there was a large ice skating rink around the corner from the café, the surrounding area was decorated with flashing lights and the odd small fairground ride. John walked over to the rink and paid, picking out skates for himself and a pair for Hellboy he guessed at his new size. Hellboy grinned as he pulled on his skates and they fitted perfectly onto his feet, he wobbled as he tried to stand grabbing the rails he made his way to the ice where John was testing out his skates.

Hellboy took one step onto the ice and plummeted forwards, saved from a full-face plant by John grabbing his shoulders "Thanks" Hellboy grumbled "No problem, here grab the rails with your right hand" John helped Red up, Hellboy stood gingerly grabbing the rails tight his other hand clasping Johns. "Okay, move one foot forward and push into it" Red followed John's instructions and found it came naturally to him "This isn't so bad scout" Red grinned pushing harder until they were both gliding along, their hands still clasped together. John grinned at his partner and time seemed to fly by as the two had fun skating on the ice until the owner closed the stand at 1am. "So, is there anything else you'd like to do?" Red hummed wrapping an arm around Johns shoulders as they walked away from the ice rink; Hellboy shook his head.

"Really …. all this time and you haven't thought what you'd do?" John stopped and stared at Hellboy for a second in disbelief.

"I didn't think about what I'd do, just…. how people would treat me" Hellboy shrugged at Johns look of disbelief "Sooooo how about we take this back to my place?" he wiggled his eyebrows, John smiled and blushed hiding his face in his scarf.

"There's a bargain booze just here" Hellboy raised an eyebrow in question at John "beer and baby Ruth's" John grinned.

"You know me too well Myers" Hellboy pulled John close his arm slipping around his waist and John smiled up at him.

Once they had gone into the small shop John picked up the exact items while Hellboy had almost swept the shelves of clear of food, the shop owner gawped at the two as john came to the desk and Hellboy snuck up behind him dumping his junk food down. The cashier scanned all the items and John paid for it not battering an eyelash. John passed the bags to Hellboy and they made their way out of the shop and towards the facility chatting as they went.

John used his id to let them both in to the BPRD and no one questioned the agent, they had learnt in their time there that it was easier to be ignorant. They made it back to Reds vault in record time trying to avoid as many people and cameras as possible, Red placed the food down next to the bed opening a packet of crisps he munched on a few as he selected a decent DVD sticking it on while John took off his coat and hung it up with his scarf. The cats swarmed around his feet "I See Nomad had another litter" John picked up the large tabby cuddling her "You should get some of them adopted" John sat on Hellboy's bed and rested the cat on his lap, scratching her behind the ears.

Hellboy joined him on the bed having taken off his leather coat and picked up a baby Ruth and two cans, cracking one can open he offered it to John who took the can from him "Thanks" John took a sip before placing it on the side.

"Why don't you take it off?" Hellboy hummer in question

"Your bracelet" John gestured to Hellboy's exposed arm with the silver trinket.

"yeah I guess it's about time" Red stared at the bracelet but didn't actually move. John watched the confliction on Hellboy's face, he shifter onto his knees disturbing the purring feline and scooted closer to Red taking Hellboy's arm in hand, John ran his fingers over the surface of the metal, Hellboy looked up at John and placed his free hand on Johns waist "Being human isn't about appearances Red, it's what inside that counts. sometimes that something is wrapped in a lot of hotness" Hellboy chuckled, a warm laughter like thunder against Johns skin "Besides maybe we could take it out again if we needed to break out"

"I like your thinking Myers, I knew you'd come around eventually" Hellboy's face seemed to be very close to his he could almost feel Hellboy's breath against his skin, Hellboy leaned in a little further but John placed a hand on his chest.

John shook his head slightly "Not like this" and for once Red understood the meaning, releasing Johns waist Hellboy eased the bracelet from his wrist and placed it onto the bed next to them, Hellboy's colour seemed to change almost instantly while his horns and stone arm took a little more time as they emerged through his skin. John smiled and lovingly sighed as he gazed into the amber eyes he knew so well.

"Much better"

Hellboy laughed again wrapping his arms around John he pulled the agent too him, allowing John to lean in and kiss him, the kiss was soft but passionate as they eased into it, John's hands rested comfortably on Hellboy's shoulders and moved rhythmically to his neck almost comforting. There first kiss was interrupted by the incessant beeping of Hellboy's watch, the piece of plastic shrieking from inside Hellboy's leather coat.

John grumbled but let go of Red for him to turn the blasted thing off "Guess we need to take that back hu?"

"Yeah, no doubt Abe will be getting anxious and will want to put them back early" Hellboy picked up the bracelet "stay here and watch the movie, this shouldn't take long and we can finish our date properly" Hellboy touched Johns checks lovingly.

"alright, try not to get caught or I'll be writing paperwork for weeks"

"I won't" Hellboy ruffled his hair cheekily before strolling out of his room, leaving John to get comfy.

Returning the items had been a little trickier than taking them but they had managed in the end with ought getting caught or setting off any alarms. Abe retreated back to his tank probably to stew in his guilt, but Hellboy was too happy to worry. He grinned and his tail swayed happily as he made his way back to his date.

What greeted him however was not what he expected, one John T Myers was passed out on his bed cuddling a pillow while the cats had surrounded him like a fur blanket, Hellboy checked his watch. To be fair it was 5 in the morning, no wonder the scout was exhausted; he worked too hard and on his rare days off he tried to recover. Shooing the cats away he slipped off Johns shoes and eased him under the covers, once John was comfortable Red striped down to his boxers and climbed in the other side. He wanted to cuddle up to John but he knew they were just testing the water of this new relationship, if this was a relationship and he didn't want to scare the smaller agent away.

Well tomorrow would be interesting, he smiled and snuggled down into his shared bed; he just hoped that it all worked out.

thanks for reading


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